Courting My Rival
by It's Rayning
Summary: Erik is the CEO of Shaw Enterprises, while it's rival, Cerebro Enterprises' CEO is Charles. They meet as strangers. Business world!AU. Characters based off X-Men: First Class. FLUFF. Indefinite hiatus.
1. Typical Days Are What He Lives For

_This is my first AU fic, and it wasn't at all what I thought it'd be...at first, it was going to be a coffee shop AU, as that's one of my ultimate kinks, but I didn't feel like writing one. Then, suddenly about two weeks ago, I got this brilliant business world AU and I started writing. It doesn't particularly follow the "business world," but I changed it to my liking._

Erik is the CEO of Shaw Enterprises, while it's rival, Cerebro Enterprises' CEO is Charles. They meet as strangers.

_First chapter's honestly not very interesting, but I've written the next two chapters already (: I'll post the next one tomorrow, most likely. We'll see how much interest in this fic (**interest=reviews**)._

**Disclaimer:** _I do not own X-Men: First Class nor do I own it's characters. Beta'ed by the lovely ReadbyRain15._

**10/15/11:**_ I would like to let everyone know that I will not be updating this fic. However, if you'd like, continue to read. Plenty of people have told me that they had induced a cavity with the **fluffiness** of this fic, and I am so proud for that.  
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><p><em><strong>Courting My Rival<strong>_

**01. Typical Days Are What He Lives For**

It is a typical day, and typical days are what Erik Lehnsherr lives for.

He wakes up early, at 5 am as usual, and brushes and flosses his teeth (must keep these teeth healthy, he thinks, though he'd never tell anyone) and hops into the shower for a hot, steamy fifteen minute shower. After, he lets his hair air-dry, going off for breakfast at the diner nearby—he will never try to cook again, not after that specific incident with the eggs in the frying pan, temperature spiked up too high—where he orders his usual french toast and black coffee.

The blonde upbeat waitress's name is Raven (he had learned that after going to the diner for months and finally asking for her name weeks ago—he is not the type to warm up to people so easily, but he had relented when it was she who continued to take his orders), and he chats with her for a while, though still a bit uptight. She teases him for it, which makes him get slightly flustered, then brush it off like he would dust. He leaves when Raven is just about done with her shift this morning—why she was working so early, he has no idea and is frankly slightly sorry for her, though he knows her well enough that she doesn't want pity—and drives forty minutes to Shaw Enterprises.

He parks in his special parking space, which so happens to be relatively close to the entrance, and takes his suitcase, walking briskly in.

Emma Frost, his secretary, says hello, and he says so back, nodding his head in greeting. He is early, as he always is, but that is the way he lives—precise, on time, and alone—and he likes it that way.

His day goes by normally, not fast nor slow, with people coming in and out of his office despite his protests for them to leave. He looks over reports on how Shaw Enterprises is doing—he is the CEO after all; he has to look over everything—and has a small coffee and bagel break at roughly 1:27 pm to substitute for lunch, as always.

He looks over the reports again, still chewing on the plain bagel in his hand, wondering why they are behind. Granted, they were only behind by one percent against their rival corporation, Cerebro Enterprises, but one percent was a lot. He shouts a bit into the phone, completely intimidating the person on the other line, who had just picked up the phone to answer, and is not at all who Erik thought he was. Yes, just a typical day.

x-x-x

Shaw Enterprises was a large, successful company, previously owned by Sebastian Shaw. Everyone depended on their software, Erik knew, and so they had millions, billions sold (he wasn't sure how much yet, as the latest version had been released quite recently). It was the ultimate software against viruses, hackers, and anything that could possibly get in, or so Shaw Enterprises claimed, so why were they behind Cerebro Enterprises? As far as he knew, nothing new had been released for months, so it couldn't be right.

Erik closed his eyes as he let the paper fall onto his desk, bring both hands to cover his face.

He should quit.

He really should.

But he didn't. He never did.

And those thoughts stayed in his head all day, as even more people stream in and out of his office to consult him, to ask him for advice, to report to him on trivial things that could have been said at a different time.

He didn't take another break, though he knew he should, but he had too much work to do.

There had been too much work thrust into his hands, he thought. He wouldn't have even been in this situation if that damn Shaw had gotten his act together instead of going bankrupt. It seemed as if one day Shaw was running the company with Erik as his close assistant, then the next, he had gotten bankrupt (twice now, Erik remembered) and had all the work handed over to Erik to stress and ponder over.

That, however was not the most horrible part. Though people would say that he was a stoic, uncaring man, Erik hated firing people. But he did, swiftly, looking away when the fired employee got slightly emotional—it had depended on the type of person, but emotion was always involved—and walking away, slamming the door to the fired-employee's office in the process. He didn't do it often, but it always had to be done. He would often try to push the task onto Frost, but she always refused due to the fact that she was a prideful woman who didn't deal with those kinds of things.

Erik argued with her about that, sometimes, because though she had pride, she was his secretary. And therefore, she was obligated to. But in the end, it was always him doing the firing.

Frost had always treated him like that, and he was slightly thankful for her. His employees had always been quite afraid of him, and that fear had increased after he had suddenly gotten the CEO position of the company. She had always been loyal to the company, to Sebastian Shaw specifically (as she was his lover, after all, though no one would dare say that to her face) and continued to treat Erik as if he were simply still the assistant.

He got home late, at approximately 11 pm, though he wasn't sure. By the time he made it into his apartment, it was nearly 12, and he almost went to collapse on the couch.

The only thing that stopped him from doing so was to check his e-mail. Frost had often mentioned to him that his Blackberry was very distracting, and so she had basically banned him from using it at work.

He checked all three of his e-mail accounts, and when he finally got to his default one, he scrolled down his inbox and sorted through the e-mails, moving the spam messages into the trash. Finally, he found the one he had wanted, beaming to himself (an overly large grin that showed way too much teeth) as he read it.

**Subject: #524: Chteau Latour Pauillac**  
><span>Show details<span> 6.22pm (6 hours ago)  
><strong>waitinglist[at]chteau[dot]com<strong> to **eriklehnsherr[at]gmail[dot]com**

_#524: Erik Lehnsherr_

_Mr. Lehnsherr, we would like to inform that the wine, Chteau Latour Pauillac, is available tomorrow morning. Please come early, as we have limited stock._

_Thank you_

x-x-x

**Subject: #518: Chteau Latour Pauillac**  
><span>Show details<span> 6.02pm (8 hours ago)  
><strong>waitinglist[at]chteau[dot]com<strong> to **cerebroxmutation[at]live[dot]com**

_#518: Charles Xavier_

_Mr. Xavier, we would like to inform that the wine, Chteau Latour Pauillac, is available tomorrow morning. Please come early, as we have limited stock._

_Thank you_

Charles grinned. He would wake up early the next morning, he tells himself, and would pick up the wine before work, shoving the paperwork aside on his desk.

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><p><em>See, told you: not a very interesting chapter. The next one will have CharlesErik in it for sure. Review if you would please?_


	2. Exchanging Phone Numbers for Wine

_I didn't actually think the first chapter would get many reviews or alerts yesterday, and yet when I open my inbox and see 28 messages! ...only to find that half of them were from a community.__ Ah, that's fine. (noits'notfinewhynotmorereviews—/shoves those thoughts away)_

_I'm not one to beg for reviews. Just...let me know, okay?_

_Anyways, here's the next chapter of Courting My Rival (such a lame name, honestly). I promised myself that I'd be at least two chapters ahead every time I post the next one, so I must scramble to write the fourth chapter! This is actually moving along quicker than I'd hoped—I wanted it to be stretched out—but...-shrugs- it'll be fine._

_This chapter's on a much different pace than last's, hope that's okay. It's much more warm and actually as interaction between the two c:_

_This chapter's been beta'ed by Readbyrain15 a while ago, so thank you~_

**Disclaimer:**_ I do not own X-Men: First Class nor do I own it's characters. Also, I have no knowledge of wine or anything, I just picked a name off a "Most Expensive Wines" list xD._

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><p><strong><em>Courting My Rival<em>  
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**02. Exchanging Phone Numbers for Wine**

There was only one left.

Only _one_ left.

How was that possible? He had gotten here early and had waited outside until the store had opened. Granted, there were several other people there as well, but...they all wanted that bottle of Chteau Latour Pauillac too? _Well_, he supposed, _it is expensive and rare. Tastes wonderful, too._

And so, he walked quickly—not running, for goodness sakes, but close enough—and was about to make a grab for the bottle of wine when he realized that another hand was also there, arriving at the same time.

Charles looked at the hand, at the long fingers nearly brushing his. His gaze traveled up towards the arm, to his shoulder, and finally to his face—and oh, his breath was stolen away as his eyes met with hazel ones that were much too close to a light green shade, and his thin, pink lips that somehow had a prideful look to them. The sharp jawline and the high forehead intrigued him, and he suspected that the man was German.

"Excuse me," Charles paused, looking down at the wine so that the other man wouldn't see his red stained cheeks. He hated it when he blushed; his cheeks would go ruby red, as would the tips of his ears and it made him look absolutely ridiculous. His fingers gripped the bottle of Chteau as he brought it to him, but was stopped by the other's hand.

"No, excuse _me_."

"I'd like this wine, if you would please. I've been on the waiting list for a very long time." Charles was about to brush the other hand away, but instead the stranger gripped it harder.

"Oh, and I haven't? Vain, aren't we?"

This caused him to blush even, and this time, he couldn't hide it. His head tipped up as the stranger used his unoccupied hand to bring his face up to meet his eyes. However, as soon as he realized what he had done, he dropped his hand to his side and coughed slightly.

He extended his hand out. "Erik Lehnsherr. Pleased to meet you."

Charles paused for a moment, then sighed and shook hands with the man now called Erik. "Charles Xavier, at your service."

Erik looked curious for a moment, analyzing the name. Had he heard that name before? Perhaps...someone well known. Something clicked in his mind, something work related, but he wasn't entirely sure who exactly this man was. He looked up to study the face again. No, that couldn't possibly be it, he thinks, relating the face to his mind. Charles gave him a strange look, most likely wondering why he had gone quiet, snapping Erik out of his thoughts.

"Very sorry for that. I don't usually stare," Erik paused before continuing, wondering if this would be alright, alright if he could flirt with the man in front of him, and hoped very dearly that this man wouldn't do, or say, anything hurtful and continued anyway, "You're quite...exquisite."

Exquisite wasn't the word he really wanted to use. This man was beautiful, and aside from that, pretty damn _adorable_. That blush, for one, was endearing.

And that blush, that blush increased, which surprised Erik. Charles' face was quite red now. The other man looked down, hiding his face. He mumbled something that he didn't quite catch.

"Sorry, I didn't catch that."

"I said," Charles said slightly louder than before, "that...I should be the one saying that."

Oh, Erik hadn't expected that. He hadn't blushed in ages; and yet, here he was, flushing pink. Charles' ruby red lips quirked upwards, smiling up at Erik's now pink face. Unlike the one on Charles' face, his blush was a pale pink that went from the tips of his roots to his neck.

Charles used this opportunity to snatch the bottle of wine, which he had almost forgotten about until his eyes caught the deep red color in the bottle.

"Hey!" Erik startled, grabbing back the bottle.

Then Charles' lips had quirked down again—which bothered Erik because he so wanted to see that smile again—and closed his eyes in thought. Erik's head tipped to the side as he stared at the long, thick eyelashes that was spread over pale cheeks. The eyes opened again, and Erik still stared incomprehensibly at them—he was sure that whatever this man had wanted, he would give it to him—and the smile returned once again.

"Trade you my phone number for this wine."

He considered it for a moment. He _could_ just bid on this on Ebay (though he'd have to stay up all night to do it—definitely worth it, he thought). He looked up, and there was that dazzling smile on those blood red lips again, he noted.

He _really_ wanted that phone number.

"Fine," he said in a mock grumble, smiling a bit.

It turned out that Charles hadn't had any paper on him, and after thinking for a moment, he offered out his hand. Charles cocked his head to the side in question, and Erik shrugged, gesturing for him to write on his palm. He struggled not to let out a laugh as the pen tickled his palm—he was very ticklish, but he would never tell anyone. After he was done, he lifted his palm to his eyes, looking at the scrawl of numbers and the name "Charles Xavier" in capital letters. He looked up to comment—

And Charles was already at the check out line.

Erik paused, smiling as he looked back to his hand, hoping that the numbers wouldn't smear. After a minute of blowing on his hand to make sure it dried, he realized something.

Did he, a person as powerful as him, _really_ just act like a lovesick teenager?

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><p><em>Let me know what you think (:<em>


	3. Curiosity Kills the Cat

_Apologies for not putting this up earlier; I had accidentally deleted this chapter's files off FF(dot)Net, and I thought I lost it. Thank god I had sent this to my beta and it was still in my outbox._

_I'm writing the next chapter right now, and though I have the whole fic outlined, I haven't figured out the details yet, so things may not make sense (I'll replace those bits later). I will want to have a tiny bit of either Hank/Raven or Alex/Hank, or possibly both. We'll see c:_

_Also, have you guys seen the DVD/Blue-Ray covers for X-Men: First Class yet?** I am so excited.** You don't even know. I really want the "Peace was never an option" T-shirt, but I don't know if the collector's edition is being sold on Amazon or not Q.Q_

**Disclaimer:**_ I do not own X-Men: First Class nor do I own it's characters. Beta'ed by ReadbyRain15. Thanks, dear~  
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><p><em><strong>Courting My Rival<strong>_

**03. Curiosity Kills the Cat**

He had gotten the wine. The wine that he had been pinning after for years.

But...he felt guilty.

He knew he shouldn't feel guilty, but he did. The other man—"Erik," he recalled, testing it out on his tongue—had been on the waiting list too, or at least he had said so. It wasn't fair for Charles to take the bottle right out of his hands—his strong hands, his long fingers—because Erik had wanted the chance to get the wine too.

He shouldn't have judged on looks only (and charms too, in this case) because he had done that before, and it hadn't worked out well. He tried to tell himself that this would be different, but he didn't know how. He didn't know this man. The only thing he knew about him was that his name was Erik. Erik...Lehnsherr? And that he liked wine, most likely anyway. And that he fancied him, or at least it seemed that way.

He said that Charles was exquisite. That wasn't a word used in everyday language. It was a word to describe something...well, exquisite. He could've been lying, of course, but...Charles just couldn't think badly of him.

And he had traded the bottle for his phone number, of all things. He hadn't thought it would work, but apparently it did. Maybe he did like him. He had just offered, suggested that, and he hadn't expected the quick answer, a "fine" with a smile on his lips.

He smiled to himself, hoping that Erik really would call him. He could see that the man was a dominate person, a "manly" person, and yet he hoped. It would most likely be days before he would receive a call, if he would get one at all.

He sighed in content, looking at his watch, raising his eyebrows as it was still early. Unlocking the door to his small but cozy apartment, he shuffled into the living room and shouted, "I'm home," for his sister, Raven, who had shared half the apartment with him.

She walked out, holding a spatula in one hand, greeting him with a, "Hey, Charles."

He smiled at her, setting the bottle down on the coffee table.

"You look happy. You got the wine?"

He nodded, continuing to smile. "Yes, _dear_. I got the last one."

"The last one? Weren't you there early? I woke up this morning, and you were gone."

"Yes, well when I got there—right when the store opened, mind you—there was only one left, and I had to...talk my way into getting it."

"Wait, 'talk my way into getting it'? Why? Who was there?"

He snorted, "Nosy, aren't you. There was another man there and..." He trailed off, his cheeks becoming red again.

"_And_...?" She prodded, standing next to the wall with her arms crossed in front of her chest.

"And...I traded," he mumbled a bit, "for the wine."

"Traded what?"

He sighed, dreading this. Raven would make it a big deal, he knew just he it. "My phone number."

Her eyebrows rose up high and her mouth opened slightly. "Huh. So, you just gave him your number, hoping that he'd give you the wine for it? And he accepted?"

"He..." Charles' ears were red now. "He called me 'exquisite' and practically...leered at me. It was nice."

"_Leered_?" She shook her head. "Was he hot?"

Charles winced at blunt question, but knew that he wouldn't be able to avoid it. "'He' is Erik Lehnsherr. And yes, he was 'hot.' But more than that," he paused to recollect himself and remember the details of the man, "his eyes were...they were a mix of hazel and green, if that makes any sense. And he was taller than me, about this height," he stopped to show how tall the other man was compared to his size, "And his lips—"

"Hold it. If you're describing his lips of all things, then you must really like this guy," she said in a stern voice. She was very protective of him, as he was of her. "You don't know if he'll call or not, so Charles, _please_ don't get your hopes up."

He shook his head. "My hopes aren't up; I realize that he may not call me."

She shook her head, knowing that he was lying as she walked into the kitchen to continue preparing breakfast.

Charles, meanwhile, had propped his head against his hand and checked the answering machine, as it said that there were three messages awaiting. He'd prepare for work later.

"Charles, it's Hank. The reports came in and...well, you're not going to be happy. Shaw Enterprise beat us again—but only by two percent—uhm," Hank gulped, fully audible in the message, "I'll see you at work tomorrow then."

He sighed. No, he was not happy. Not happy that Shaw Enterprise beat them again (and again and again and again, Charles thought) but...work was work. And he was not going to bring this to light, not at home anyway, and especially not with Raven. She had thought all his stress from work was gone, and so he'd keep it that way. He didn't want to upset her again.

He pressed the button for the next message.

"It's Moira. Ahh, I'm not exactly calling about work but you did hear about the report right? ...Nevermind, I just, uhm. Want to go out some time with a friend of mine? I know that, that you're...uh, you like—you don't like women, so he's, he's a guy—a man, I mean. His name's...you know what? Nevermind."

He sighed. He knew that Moira liked him. Really, who didn't know? He had told her that he liked men months ago, but obviously she was still uncomfortable with that. She often tried to set him up with someone (she would usually call once or twice a month) but would...well, for lack of a better word, chicken out.

Next message.

"Charles Xavier? It's Erik Lehnsherr." There was a pause as Charles looked up at the clock. It was only one hour past when he had first met Erik. "I've thought about calling you a couple of days from now, but...well, I thought, why not now?" Charles heard some shuffling and chuckled to himself. "Would you like to go out for dinner with me?" At those words, Charles had straightened up, his eyes wide. "Well, I don't need an answer at the moment. Just, if you would, meet me at Luigi's tomorrow night at seven. If...if you don't come, I'll get the message and I won't call you again. I mean—well, you gave me your phone number, so I thought it'd be an invitation to...ask you for a date," he grumbled, and Charles could imagine his face flushing pink like it had an hour before. "So, come if you wish. Good bye."

Charles let out a breath he hadn't known he was holding and a giant grin plastered onto his face. Erik had asked him on a date! And he seemed nervous, Charles noted, and thought it was incredibly sweet, calling him not an hour after he had first met him.

He knew that, normally, men would wait to call someone, and that they would often think they would come across "desperate" if they called early. But, he liked that Erik called this early. Another grin found it's way to his face.

He turned around (with the grin still on his face) and stilled when he saw that Raven had listened to the whole thing, smiling to herself.

"That was really sweet. I like him already."


	4. They End Up Splashing in Puddles

__I've basically typed half of this whole chapter on my new phone (a Samsung Blue Tetra~), in attempt to learn how to text on it. But sadly, it's not working. I suck at texting. Especially on this tiny keyboard.  
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__Anyways, you have no idea how far I'll go for this fic! c: My idea's have evolved, big time :D Be grateful! ...But really? I should be the one being grateful—for all your wonderful reviews. :) I'm so glad you all like the story so far. I have no idea how far this is going to go, but as long as I have your reviews, I'll happily continue. I've never written a multi-chapter, let alone an AU that I liked before, so this is extremely rare.__

__Thank you to you all, especially to these reviewers who have reviewed at least **twice**: WithLoveFromTorchwood, LadyGhai, DeathTrapDaisy, Aisha-Yan, shallwedance9, Petite Amor, Tauras282, and Nillen. You guys are the best!__

**Disclaimer:**_ I do not own X-Men: First Class nor do I own it's characters. Unbeta'ed.  
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><p><em><strong>Courting My Rival<strong>_

**04. They End Up Splashing in Puddles**

He hadn't asked anyone out in a long time, not since he had tracked Magda down and finalized their divorce, so he wasn't particularly sure why he had taken to the man named Charles that he had just met an hour ago,and whom he had fought over with for the precious wine he had been waiting for.

Perhaps it was his impeccable looks, or the charm the man obviously possessed, as well as the personality. It was probably a combination of it all.

He had started work early from home, making sure that he would not be late for the hopeful date that night (assuming that Charles hadn't thought he was too forward or desperate). He had finished about a fifth of his workload that morning (it would have been a fourth, but he had fallen asleep, only to be woken up by his cat, Jingles).

He then went about his day, stopping to talk with Raven during his breakfast as usual. He had accidentally let out that he had a date that night as he stared at her, flustered.

"Oh?" she smiled, "Who is she?"

"He," Erik corrected, his lips morphing into a thin line, knowing that she would comment about that because, hell, _everyone_ commented on that.

But she didn't, which surprised him. "Oh. Who is he, then?"

Erik shrugged, knowing that she was fishing for information. He knew that if she had known what he really did for a job, she definitely would have pried information out of him more desperately. The fact that she didn't do this calmed him.

"A man I met this morning," he says, his tone slightly clipped still.

"This morning? Huh, you must've really liked him then."

He smiled wistfully, "Yes, I suppose I do."

She looked at him inquiringly, "You don't ask people out too much, do you?"

He let out an accidental snort. It was hard shutting Raven out, as she was so friendly and intuitive. "Yes. What, did you want me to ask you out?"

She shook her head, a smile still on her lips. "I had my suspicions that you wouldn't a week after you started coming here."

"Suspicions?"

"You _are_ gay. My brother is too. I know the signs," she shrugged.

"Bi-sexual," he corrected, twice now.

Her head tilted, as her eyes studied him, as if asking him for more information.

"In college…I experimented. It didn't matter that I slept with men and women then—not that it matters now. But I'd fallen in love with my best friend. Her name was Magda," he smiled, looking down at his hands. "She was beautiful. But she didn't love me back." He had stopped.

"What happened?"

"She was drunk. And we were in Vegas. I wasn't drunk, but then again, I was in college. I was so stupid. We got married, and, well…we had our 'honeymoon.'

"I woke up in the morning, and she was gone."

His eyes had closed, and when he had reopened them, Raven was still there, this time instead of standing over him, she was sitting across from him. His fists unclenched as he breathed.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to get you into that."

Erik sighed, "It's fine. I should've let it out a long time ago." He looked up at her, "Thank you."

Raven shrugged, leaning over the table to pour the stoic man another cup of coffee. "It's no problem. People always come to me, anyway."

xxx

The day passed by quickly, as he had practically ignored everyone, save for Frost as she wouldn't accept his ignorance towards her.

"Hey, snap out of it!"

Still Erik ignored her, continuing to look over applications.

"Erik!"

He finally grunted, looking up. His eyes landed on Frost with her blonde-white hair, and curiously inquired about the man next to her, the twenty-something year old man with shoulder length brown hair.

"Who is this?" He asked, his eyebrows rising in question. She frowned, glaring at the man who was supposedly her boss.

"This is Janos Quested, the new intern." She shoved the man to Erik as if she were throwing in a big slab of meat to a shark (which was a worthy comparison as she had seen him with his overly large grin plenty of times). And there was that grin once again, his eyes flashing dark for a second.

"Hello," he drawls out, and Emma once again compares him to a shark coming in on it's prey. Smiling, she left the intern.

Erik gave him enough work to keep busy until the end of the month.

xxx

He had rushed home that evening, checking his watch closely as he drove home. His clothes had been laid out carefully (he had done this in the morning).

Erik sighed. He was probably hoping for too much. It was his first date in a very long time, though—that was his excuse. Yet he couldn't even convince himself. Charles was the reason for it all, he knew, and he couldn't stop thinking about that _damn_ man. He had even put on cologne for him, for God's sakes.

Luigi, the restaurant that Erik had invited Charles to was a small restaurant he had gone to since the first time he had moved there, years ago. He'd had a special attachment to the place, and if he were really honest, he didn't know any other restaurants, since he had been working nonstop since Shaw had promoted him. Besides, it was in walking distance. He really wasn't in the mood to drive, sure that he would crash into someone according to his nerves.

Drip—drip—drip...

Erik looked up, noticing the water drop down from the roofs of the stores as he walked past, and looked up to find that grey clouds had spread across the sky. His hands, which were stuffed into the pockets of his leather jacket, reached up as if he were trying to catch the rain. He had reached the restaurant, but stayed out, closing his eyes as the rain grew and showered him. His jacket, as well as the white button up dress shirt underneath had started to drip.

It rarely rained where he lived, and he had missed it, having moved from a rainy climate. In all honesty, he relished the rain.

He grinned, smiling wide to those around him—though half of them had given him weird looks—and laughed out loud, forgetting everything around him, letting everything fade away. He blinked as a drop landed on his shoulder and looked down at himself. His hair was plastered on his face and his entire body was dripping with water and yet he didn't feel cold.

He then felt a hand on his shoulder, and turned around, a grin still on his face.

"Erik?"

His eyes grew wide as they landed on Charles.

"Charles..." he flushed, "I forgot."

The other man chuckled, "I can see that."

Erik paused for a moment. "Join me?"

Charles' eyebrows raised, and he smiled, leaving Erik with another image of him with his ruby red lips and sparkling blue eyes in the rain, his hair beginning to stick in odd places on his head.

"Just standing here?" Charles asked softly as he jumped into the nearest puddle, splattering the both of them.

Erik laughed, his teeth showing again and joined him, jumping into the same puddle, but loosing his step as he fell backwards onto the ground, his slacks becoming wet and heavy. Charles laughed, offering his hand to the man in the water. He obliged, using his help to stand up again.

Erik bit his bottom lip, still holding onto the soft hand sporting nimble fingers against his rougher, more calloused hands. Charles smiled another brilliant smile and gripped his hand harder, as if he were reassuring him, and pulled him along, jumping into another puddle. They continued for another hour, smiling at each other as they got wetter and wetter.

Their hands were still grasped together as they stood, exhausted from the splashing.

Erik pulled Charles towards him until they were facing each other and they both grinned.

"I think we missed our reservation."

The corners of Charles' eyes crinkled, "I think I'd rather do this."

"It'll still end the same way," he said softly in a rare voice.

Erik leaned forwards, pulling Charles closer to him and brushed his lips with Charles, and smiled as the other man responded shyly, the rain still showering them. They spent the rest of the hour kissing, just chastely at each other's mouths as they smiled into each other.

_I think I could fall in love with him—_

"—Charles! Stop snogging your boyfriend and get in here, both of you!" They separated, as a car stopped in front of them. "Jesus Christ, it's drenching and you'll both get pneumonia, I swear."

Charles grinned, "_Dear_ Raven, I would be much obliged if you don't interrupt us."

Erik froze as Charles' sister stepped out of the car, holding a bright yellow umbrella. "...Raven?"

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><p><em>It may take a couple of days until the next chapter, because I still have to brainstorm some things. But who knows, I might post the next chapter tomorrow, if I can c:<em>

_Review please~ (Don't you want your username up here too? xD)_


	5. They All Have A Connection

_Four days. Four days. I didn't think it'd take that long. To be honest, I had this chapter done two days after I published chapter four, but I sent this to my beta. She hasn't finished beta'ing this chapter yet, but I decided to publish this today anyway, since she wouldn't be able to finish beta'ing it until Sunday. c: I don't blame her though; she has camp, so that's fine._

_Anyway! LottePilgrim asked if Shaw would be an evil character in this fic. To be honest...I completely forgot about him. Apparently I left him out in my outline -_-'' Sorry about that. I might add him in, if only for one chapter, but we'll see._

_Thank you to these reviewers who've reviewed at least **twice**: __WithLoveFromTorchwood, LadyGhai, DeathTrapDaisy, Aisha-Yan, shallwedance9, Petite Amor, Tauras282, and Nillen__, pbw, tehehehe, WritingIsAGroovyMutation, and SorchaPhoenix. There are **28** original reviewers here *O* I'm so proud._

_There are 49 reviews right now, and I have an idea for the **fiftieth, seventy-fifth, hundredth** (it it reaches that far), etc. For those reviewers, I will fill a prompt for them. For example, the next reviewer would be the fiftieth. I will PM that person, and they would be able to either give me an original prompt, or find one on the First Class Kink Meme. I hope that'll encourage you guys to review, because I really appreciate the feedback. Anonymous reviews are fine too, by the way! :D  
><em>

_**Disclaimer:**_ I do not own X-Men: First Class nor do I own it's characters. Unbeta'ed.__

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><p><em><strong>Courting My Rival <strong>_

**They All Have a Connection**

"Erik?"

Raven had stopped, gripping the wooden handle of the umbrella tightly for a moment before she stared out right. "Huh."

Charles cleared his throat as he looked back and forth between the two in confusion. "You two know each other?" he genuinely asked, tilting his head in question.

"Mhmm." Now the woman was smiling. "He goes to the diner for breakfast everyday." The smile quickly turned into a smirk as she eyed the two carefully, noticing that they both were still wrapped in each other's arms. She gestured with her hands, waving them to both men. "So the man who you 'met this morning' is my brother, Charles?" Then she turned to Charles. "And the man who you 'exchanged your phone number for wine' with was Erik?" She laughed, covering her mouth as her eyes struck with amusement.

"Whom," Charles corrected.

"Who, whom, whatever," she dismissed, smiling at him.

The two had then chosen that moment to realize that they were still embracing, and ripped their arms off each other and backed away in embarrassment. Charles had flushed a brilliant red, his ears taking even more toll as they turned scarlet red, clashing with his ruby lips. Erik, meanwhile had flushed dark pink, his steel eyes darting to the side as he looked anywhere but Charles.

It was still pouring.

From Raven's point of view, it was a beautiful sight, despite that this was her brother. The two men were alone, save for Raven and her car, with two centimeters of rain soaking their shoes. Yet there was no thunder that day, only wind that had picked up a while ago, blowing through their hair as if attempting to dry them. They were alone, kissing, holding onto each other softly, firmly.

And if she were a little honest with herself, she was just a bit jealous.

"Come, come," she said sweetly, moving open the car door for the two to get into the back. "You two are totally getting sick, I just know it."

x-x-x

Erik sat down on the couch, shifting as he wrapped the towel tighter around him again. The pillow was propped against the side, and Raven picked it up again and fluffed it.

"Sorry, we don't have another bedroom. You'll have to sleep here." She smiled slyly, "And _sorry_, but I don't really want you to sleep in Charles' room, not on the first date," she laughed, signaling that she was joking, despite her words.

Erik looked away, his cheeks heating up once again. "I wouldn't do that," he promised.

She looked thoughtful for a moment, remembering the conversation from the morning. It seemed as if that were too long ago.

"This was your first date since then, am I right?"

He looked at her in confusion, a puzzled expression on his face.

She clarified, "Since you and..._Magda_," she paused to remember her name, "since Magda and you were together."

There was a silence that filled the room with stiffness before he answered her, nodding to her question.

For some reason, he had an urge to tell her about Magda. It might have been because of how greatly Raven and Magda were alike—not in appearances, but in personality. Magda had been a smart woman, a caring woman when she wasn't at a party, trying to seduce the one she liked. They both had curiosity written in their eyes though Raven tended to voice it more.

But somehow knew that in some way, Raven was not like Magda at all. If Raven had been in Magda's place, she would have stayed with Erik, and though she would have been angry at him, she would have helped him get through it, trying to convince him that she couldn't possibly be the person he should be with.

Charles entered the room, his eyes glued to Erik and smiled when he got closer.

"That was really fun," he said softly, his attention towards Erik, and that was Raven's clue to get out unless she wanted to see the two kissing goodnight.

They had barely known each other, but it felt natural to each of them.

Erik liked Charles—Charles was different, and though he hadn't known very much about him, Erik had so much wanted to kiss him the moment he had met him. Aside from that urge, he had felt it. The same feeling that he had with Magda. The moment that Charles had tapped him on the shoulder and smiled at him in the rain, his heart and skipped a beat, and he realized that it was simply more than a crush.

They hadn't even had their first date yet, not really. But he wanted to get to know Charles.

They kissed chastely and smiled at each other.

"You know, we still haven't had our first date yet..." Erik trailed off.

Charles smiled, licking his lips in anticipation, which were trailed closely by Erik's eyes, which turned darker for a second, lusting for a moment as Charles wet his lips.

"Yes...?" Erik startled, earning a little chuckle from Charles.

This time, Charles took it upon himself to be brave, sparing the other's embarrassment. It turned out to be much harder than he would have thought as he stuttered through, since it was the other person who had always asked Charles out, not the other way around.

"Ahm...h-how about two days from now...?" he paused, twiddling his thumbs as he stared into Erik's eyes, nervous. He wiped the sweat slipping down his temple carefully, and Erik laughed.

A bit of anger seeped through then, eliminating his shyness.

"If you think I sound horrible, you should have heard yourself. It was quite...unorthodox," he mumbled the last part to himself as he remembered the blundering message Erik had left him this morning. In fact, Charles pulled the answering machine on his lap and replayed the message for him to hear.

_"Charles Xavier? It's Erik Lehnsherr. I've thought about calling you a couple of days from now, but...well, I thought, why not now? Would you like to go out for dinner with me? Well, I don't need an answer at the moment. Just, if you would, meet me at Luigi's tomorrow night at seven. If...if you don't come, I'll get the message and I won't call you again. I mean—well, you gave me your phone number, so I thought it'd be an invitation to...ask you for a date. So, come if you wish. Good bye." _

Erik's eyes were now huge, almost comical as he flushed for the third time that day. Charles smiled smugly and set the machine aside.

"Now," Charles chuckled. "Two days from now at seven o'clock. Luigi's, yes?"

x-x-x

"Oh, and by the way? If you ever hurt Charles, I will kill you. And ban you from the diner."

"I won't, the food there's much too delicious," Erik joked.

"I'm serious."

He nodded, "I know; I won't."

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><p><em>:l I couldn't add the last part in anywhere, and so it went in the end. xD<em>

_Review, please c: Remember what I said about the fiftieth, seventy-fifth, etc. reviewers, lol._


	6. Too Much Smiling is Bad For You

_Sorry guys, this chapter's not that long. But it's a couple hundred words longer than the last, anyway. I hope you guys don't mind c: & **I did post this earlier than usual**._

_Anyways, I'm very happy to receive reviews in my inbox today. I laughed a bit at some of them, and they all made me very happy. I'm so glad that you all like this AU. To be honest, I didn't think this would get many reviews or hits at all, but you've proven me wrong. I love that some of you have commented on the fact that this business world!AU is different from others and that I write them in character, especially those who say that they rarely read AU's. \(^0^)/ Some of you made me fangirl inside too._

_http:/ 25 . media . tumblr . com/tumblr_lmg3gyw7r41ql7qv1o1_500 . jpg_

_Oh geezus, Nillen. You made me fangirl so much. James McAvoy is so adorable. Now I can definitely see him jumping in puddles._

_Thank you to these reviewers who reviewed **chapter 05**: WritingIsAGroovyMutation (you got the prompt), pbw, WithLoveFromTorchwood (...52nd review. But you made me laugh though, and if you have a good prompt, feel free to send it to me! c:), shallwedance9, Master Of All Imagination, Nikita Morte, Nillen (x2), Darkyu, TheElfQueen, DeathTrapDaisy, ixamxeverywhere, Ritsuka94, LadyGhai, Passerby, and hylian-dragoness. Hope I didn't miss anyone c:_

_**Unrequited!**Moira/Charles. **I do not like Moira.**  
><em>

_**Disclaimer:**_ I do not own X-Men: First Class nor do I own it's characters. Unbeta'ed.__

__This fic will **eventually be rated M**, if only for a couple of chapters. I know that so far, it's been all K and K+, and it will be that way for a while, but when the time comes, I'll let you know.  
><em>_

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><p><em><strong>Courting My Rival<strong>_

**06. Too Much Smiling is Bad For You**

Charles had gone to work that morning happier that the usual and everyone could tell. It hadn't mattered that Shaw Enterprises had beat them in quality, or that one of the interns was sick, or that he had a meeting this afternoon.

It wasn't that Charles was a man who looked at a glass of water as if it were half empty—it was the opposite, in fact. Charles was truly an enthusiastic man, his bright, happy smile visible to his staffers everyday. But that day, something other than his natural happiness filled the company as he strode through the doors, his back straight with a twinkle in his eyes.

Moira smiled as Charles greeted her, affection lingering in her eyes that was not just friendliness. Moira continued to watch Charles throughout the day, and questions about why he as so happy flitted through her mind, but she decided not to intervene. Despite her decision though, she had asked anyway. She couldn't help it; she was naturally curious, she told herself. And it was true, she had often stuck her nose into matters that weren't her's, despite what others had to say on the matter.

"Charles?" She asked, pausing to examine his expression, which was a soft, thoughtful smile. Who could be possibly be thinking about? And especially while he was talking to her too, the _audacity_! Probably someone, a man, she thought shuddering.

After Charles had come out to her, things had become increasingly awkward, but her feelings still hadn't subsided. She doubted that they ever would, and sighed as she looked into his blue eyes. He would return her love, she knew, _someday_. That's what she kept telling herself. "Did something happen?"

Charles turned to her, tilting his head as if he didn't know what she was talking about. _Right_, she thought. "Nothing, I'm absolutely fine. Why do you ask?"

She shook her head, "I didn't mean to ask if something _bad_ happened. You...you're just smiling so much."

He chuckled in amusement, "That's a bad thing?"

Moira really hated it when Charles was like this. Though he had a cheerful, innocent-like personality, naive almost, the questions he let slip towards her was slightly intimidating. And Charles still hadn't answered her question.

"Nevermind," she mumbled, dismissing the matter. Charles stared at her in amusement once more before returning to work.

A lot of people seemed to be staring at him curiously or asking questions about the change all day. Frankly, he was getting tired of it, but didn't know he still sported on his face.

_Am I really that obvious?_ He wondered, simply sipping the coffee that had gone cold hours ago, and was much too bitter for his liking.

Does Erik like coffee? It seemed like he would, despite his personality last night. Charles refused to believe he was always liked that. He seemed like he would be a stoic man if not for Charles. He sighed.

Random thoughts of Erik had come up throughout the day, wondering what Erik was doing, what he liked, and any other possibly question that popped into his head.

Erik had left that morning, leaving early, and had left a kiss on his forehead, slipping into Charles' room, still thinking that Charles was still asleep. His eyes had snapped open when Charles had leaned up and captured his lips with his own in a soft kiss. He left with a, "See you in two days, darling," and Charles shivered at his tone. And the fact that Erik had only been wearing Charles' nightshirt and boxers hadn't escaped his notice, as the shirt clung onto his body, especially around his shoulders, as Charles had been much less broad. Before Erik could see him staring though, his eyes had slipped closed in attempt to pretend he was still asleep.

And so, thoughts of Erik had cascaded through his mind all day. He let out a huff, trying to discard the thoughts but then found that he couldn't, and frowned, setting the form down that he had been working on for the past—he checked his wristwatch—hour, with absolutely nothing done.

He pressed the button for Moira and set his head down in frustration.

"Yes, Charles?"

"Bring Hank in here." Hank was an intern for the summer at Cerebro, as were two others, Alex and Sean (who just happened to be sick that day).

Honestly, Charles didn't think that three interns were enough. He loved interns. They made good people to talk to. He had wanted to accept more interns—their applications were quite fantastic—but Moira had informed him that he had enough as it was, and so he had relented. Moira had even taken it upon herself to reject all the applications, as he didn't like to fire, much less not hire someone.

Hank walked into Charles' office, smiling tentatively at him. He too, wondered why Charles was so happy that day.

Charles liked Hank's application the best out of the pile, simply because he was brilliant at technology—a must if he were to work at Cerebro—and genetics. He had warmed up to him quickly, though at first he was thought to be a shy, bashful nineteen year old who would not talk to anyone. However, once Charles had struck up a conversation about heterochromic eyes, calling it a mutation, Hank had sided up next to him quickly and they began their talk of genetics.

It made Charles miss his college years. Back then—which made him sound very old, since he was only barely twenty-six; he should really stop speaking in those terms, he thinks—he had been working under the Trust Centre for Human Genetics program at Oxford. Honestly, he had no clue why he hadn't pursued it, and had no idea how he ended up in Said Business School anyway, much less how he ended up running Cerebro Enterprises.

A tap on his shoulders send him out of his thoughts. "Mr. Xavier?"

The boy had an incredulous expression on his face and Charles apologized, "Sorry, Hank, I just got lost in my thoughts. And please call me Charles."

Hank bit back a smile. "Yeah, that happens to me too," he mumbled.

Charles sat up, straightening his tie. "Mind if you do these for me?"

Hank nodded, leaning forward as Charles explained. "Just," Charles shifted in his seat, "fill these out according to these files." He gestured to the computer.

Hank nodded. "Anything else?"

Charles shook his head and thanked him, picking up his mug to refill it with coffee. "Let me know when you're done."

As he walked out the door, the mug in hand, he had a feeling that Moira was still staring at him, as she had been before. He turned to face her, tilting his head in question as she looked at her computer, averting her eyes.

"Moira, dear?"

She nearly fell out of her chair at the word, _dear_.

"Er, yes, Charles?"

"Anything wrong?"

She fiddled for a bit, looking around as if she needed something to distract her. "Nothing...Just, really, why are you smiling so much?"

He shook his head and shrugged, knowing that she wouldn't take what he would say well. "A man."

Her eyebrows raised. "A man?"

He nodded and said "Now if you please, I'd like to get a refill for my coffee before it's all gone," and strode away, not looking back.

Charles let out another smile. And this time, he realized it. He really was smiling too much.

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><p><em>This fic's going to have seventy-five reviews soon. Remember what I said about prompts last chapter? If you happen to be the seventy-fifth one, I'll let you know. c: I'll be writing the next chapter tonight!<br>_


	7. Erik Has a Motorcycle

_Five hours. Five hours. This chapter took __**five fucking hours**__. Allow me to cuss, because this really took forever. I had written the majority of this chapter on my phone, for two hours last night, and my thumbs are killing me. It took another two hours to type this all up and add details this morning, and another to check the spelling and grammar (though I'm sure there's still a lot left)._

_Some of you say that my previous chapters are too short? Well then, you can't complain about that today because this chapter's __**~3,000 words**__ long. This took a while to write, because I've never really written a date scene before, except once, but that was to a festival and it ended with them having sex in the Ferris wheel. Not gonna happen again. Maybe. I might even add that in this fic, who knows._

_This chapter's __**rated T**__. I know that the previous chapters had barely any kissing, but -shrugs- this one's different. Also, I didn't exactly mean to write Erik as too shy or anything, and so I hope this chapter makes up for that._

_Thank you to those who reviewed __**chapter 06**__: __WithLoveFromTorchwood__, __pbw__, __WritingIsAGroovyMutation__, __shallwedance9__, __Ritsuka94__, __Taurus282__, __wryencounter__, __xXCaRaXx__, __La Feu Eterne__, __modernmariah__, __Nikita Morte__, __NOGOODTSUNA__, __iShineBeCuzOfU__, and __TheCriativReader__._

_La Feu Eterne__'s the seventy-fifth reviewer, and so I am requesting a prompt from her c: Let's see who's the hundredth reviewer, shall we?_

_**Disclaimer:**__ I do not own X-Men: First Class nor do I own it's characters. Unbeta'ed._

* * *

><p><strong>Courting My Rival<strong>

**07. Erik Has a Motorcycle**

Charles blanched as he reached the restaurant and stared at the line protruding from the entrance. Though he was glad that he'd made a reservation for the two of them nights ago, he couldn't help but wonder why there were so many people that day.

The restaurant seemed normal, at least to him, but perhaps there was a reason that it was so crowded, as Charles had never been in there before. Sure, he had passed by it sometimes when he went strolling—the street was close to where he resided—but he hadn't thought of going in, mostly because of his busy work schedule. He stood in line for a couple of minutes, shifting forward as the waiter let another couple in, and checked his watch.

7:08

He blinked, setting his wrist back down to his side and frowned, hoping that he wasn't too late. He really should have gotten Erik's number, but hadn't had the time.

Raven had kept him a couple of extra minutes, trying to find the 'best look' for him. He had been thrown in and out of different outfits since noon that day. Raven meant well, he knew that, but she was just so...excited. Perhaps it was because it had been such a while since she had gone our with anyone, or maybe the fact that this was his first date since he had come out to her had caused this effect and so she continually wanted to 'doll him up.'

It wasn't that Charles wasn't excited—after all, he had been grinning from ear to ear nonstop all day—but he possessed the nervous energy that usually came in his dates. Raven had urged him on, though, and for that he was grateful. He relied on the support she gave him greatly, in replacement for his mother's. He doubted that she would ever support him for this.

Besides, Raven had offered to send him a couple of texts if she had a feeling that he'd need them. Charles prayed that she wouldn't, but in all likeliness, she most definitely would.

He heard a revving noise of an engine and looked up, startled to see a man getting off a motorcycle, glancing around for someone. Charles stared out right at the man, at his back and a little bit lower as well and smiled a bit. He looked like a fool trying to find his date.

And it was at that moment, when the man turned around, letting him capture expression of relief on his face as he saw Charles, but not before Charles found the hazel eyes even through the darkness, the color shining as he had seen before. The 'fool,' as Charles had labeled him was Erik Lehnsherr.

He shook his head in amusement as the man strode over, a sheepish smile on his face.

"Evening, Charles," he greeted, and smiled bashfully with a little guilt in his eyes. "Sorry I'm a bit late," he said, his arm traveling back to scratch his head in a sign of embarassment.

Charles chuckled, "It's fine; I was a bit late too."

Erik sighed in relief and went to stand next to him the line at an awkward stance. Charles glanced at him, taking his time to get the image into his head: slightly gelled back hair, a navy blue turtle neck sweater, black slacks that fit his form well, and shiny, black dress shoes.

Meanwhile, Raven had put him into a jet black sports coat, blue button-up shirt (insisting that they brought out his eyes even more) and dark washed jeans. hopefully they were appropriate, he thinks, as he wasn't used to wearing jeans very much.

Standing closely to each other, they let out shy smiles.

Erik taps the couple in front of them on the shoulder after a frustrated expression fleets over his face and Charles is surprised when there is no outburst when Erik asks them quietly if Charles and he could cut them. The thought he had of the couple knowing Erik already was squashed as he hands the man a twenty dollar bill. Charles' eyebrow rises and Erik smirks proudly as they are upped to the front of the line.

Charles gives the waiter both their names and a waitress guides them to a private table, as Charles had requested on the phone.

The waitress eyes the both of them, and wonders who's the better guy to flirt with, the one with the blue eyes, or the man with the motorcycle that she had spotted outside. As she thinks, she gets their orders, after waiting a couple of minutes as they surveyed the menu. The man with the motorcycle ordered first, complimenting the Fettuccini Pesto Cream with Grilled Chicken he'd had before, apparently. Blue eyes took a bit longer but the waitress, Angel was her name, stood and continued to stare at the two. After another moment's consideration, he orders the lasagna and smiled at her, ruby lips wide and blue eyes twinkling. The older man smirked, as if he knew what the hell she was thinking. She has an odd urge to say, _You know it's double for both right?_ but shakes her head, knowing it was the other way around. She reluctantly left with their orders as she quickly wrote them down and promises the food would come soon.

Charles quirked another eyebrow up in amusement and Erik lets out a laugh as they stared at the girl's disappearing back. After a couple of moments of just staring at each other, they blushed, realizing what they had been doing. They looked away, Erik fidgeting with his fingers and Charles swinging his feet under the table like a child. They continued to send hesitant looks at each other when they believed that they other didn't notice. On several occasions though, they had caught each other's eyes and stared deep into them until they realized yet again what they were doing.

There was a vibration and Charles almost jumped, but then realized that it was his phone. After sneaking a look back to see if the other was paying attention and finding that he wasn't (or so it seemed), he looked at the alert, and saw a text message from Raven and chuckled lowly to himself.

_Charles y r u so godamn awkward on dates? Don't even deny it, u guys r probly staring at each other rn, so just start the fucking conversation already!_

Erik gives him a questioning look after and he thinks perhaps he should take his little sister's advice and 'start the fucking conversation already.'

And so, they talked, about their likes: Charles liked genetics and had spent nearly ten minutes explaining heterochromic eyes and made Erik regret asking, he had a fondness for chocolate (Erik made sure to remember that fact, and smirked to himself as he imagined himself licking melted chocolate off a pale, flat stomach, then down, to his navel, and even further as the chocolate dripped lower to the erect—) and liked to go swimming.

Erik, on the other hand, liked motorcycles (it was a given, really), and coffee, and little vague things that for some reason made Charles very happy to know.

They talked about their childhood: Charles was a privileged child living in a mansion with his single mother who had inherited the money from her family, and had finally remarried a man with a daughter he had come to know as his (step) sister, Raven, when he had turned eight and Raven four. As for Erik, he had sympathized after he had told him of his childhood: He had a poor, but loving family from Germany, which had come to fade away quickly as his father had been taken away for something he didn't do and his mother dying slowly of cancer, which they hadn't had enough money to go to the hospital for. She had died slowly, and Erik hadn't even been there when she had passed away; he was at a local store, buying necessities with the little money they had. He had cried and buried her body alone. He had been alone since he was fifteen, until he met his uncle Sha—Sebastian.

Erik refused to go any further than that. Erik did not want Charles to know that he was the CEO of Shaw Enterprises, thinking that he would have been treated much differently if he had let Charles know. And so, he had been vague about his job: he worked in a powerful company, in marketing. It was true. He was not lying. His job _did_ have some marketing aspects to it.

Charles had been thinking the same thing that Erik had, though they did not know it. They jostled a little about their jobs, almost but not quite comparing them to each other as Charles had said that he also worked for a powerful company as a supervisor. That was true as well, he did supervise the whole company. They skipped past their job descriptions quickly, and Erik talked about Magda a bit, about his college days, as did Charles, and they traded stories, each getting more and more ridiculous. After talking for a while, they looked down to find that they had not taken a bit of their orders, as the food had come when they were still talking. They continued to talk, but they mainly ate, just smiling at each other once in a while.

Some time in the middle of dinner, Erik had noticed that some of the sauce from the lasagna Charles had ordered had somehow gotten onto his nose. He smiled a small smile and cleared his throat to get the attention of the other and wiped at his own nose. Charles' head tilted and—_God, that's too fucking adorable_—and Erik had an urge to lick the smudge off.

His smile quickly turns into a smirk as he beckons him over. Charles blinks and obliged, leaning over the table as Erik did the same. Thinking that Erik was to kiss him, his lips had started to purse and his eyes had glazed over as they slipped closed.

He felt something wet on his nose.

As he opened his eyes, the wetness had gone away, seeing the other man lick his lips. A smug smirk was plastered on his face as he responded to Charles' questioning grunt.

"You had some sauce on your nose. I licked it off."

Charles was red, so incredibly red. His cheeks had suffered even more as Erik laughed slightly, loving the color on his face. He sat back down mortified. They continue to eat and Charles is quiet, and Erik looks at him worriedly.

"I'm sorry, Charles, I shouldn't have done that. But...God, you looked so god damn adorable and—" Charles is kissing him and after a moment, he finally responds to the surprising kiss. He doesn't care that he'd been interrupted—he would love to be interrupted the same way again, he thinks. Erik stops thinking as a tongue prods at his lips though, and though he prefered to be the dominant one, he accepted the advance, opening his mouth in order to let the wet, exploring tongue in.

Charles' hands found their way up to cup the back of Erik's neck, and Erik's hands were suddenly tangled in Charles' luscious, chestnut hair. They pulled away from each other to breathe for a second, then crushed their lips together again. They claw at each other and they _want_, they _need_, they—

"Of course. The hottest guys are always gay."

Charles pulled away and the same red color that had been on his face before returned, mortified again for the second time that day. He looked up and found Erik's face, seeing that he had turned a bit pink, but not for the same reason as he. At the sight, he felt himself twitch, and winced, staring at the reddened lips. _Not on the first date, not tonight_, he tells himself, though he did not want to abide by it. He could tell that Erik was thinking the same thing and he looked up to see the waitress (her name was Angel, wasn't it?) smirking at the two and putting down the check.

They two men smiled ruefully and Erik brought out his wallet, refusing to let Charles pay even though it was it he who had made the reservation. Charles tiped the waitress though, adding extra simply because he was incredibly embarrassed and she hadn't truly said anything besides the comment before.

They walk out of the restaurant at nearly 9:00, Charles slipping his hand into the other's and receiving a smile, and that is when Erik realizes that Charles had walked to the restaurant.

He gestures to the bike, "Would you like a ride?"

Charles shifted, eying the vehicle, "I've never been on a motorcycle before..."

Erik's cocksure attitude began to show through once again. "I promise that I won't hurt you. And it's getting dark out and I _do_ know where you live," he says hopefully.

He is still reluctant but finally accepts, "I...alright."

Erik grinned, his teeth bright as his mouth shows much too many teeth, and Charles smiled back, charmed with the sharky grin. Erik got on first, then glanced back at Charles, beckoning him to his back. Charles got on, and wrapping his arms around Erik's waist, squeezing tightly and snuggled his head into Erik's shoulder. Erik smiled, his eyes glistening with affection, and he turned the bike on, comforting Charles when he whimpered slightly. He goes slowly at first, entering the street, caring for Charles until a car gives him a _beep_ and he goes faster, with the man behind him clinging on tightly.

The house is not far, he remembered, and he rides through the streets with ease, with the man on his back. His head turns back for a bit at a red light, and rolls his shoulders, and Charles finally takes his head from his back, looking around, his eyes still guarded. Too adorable, he thinks, and it was as if Charles was a mind reader, because he jabs his stomach lightly. Erik chuckles, continuing to drive to the apartment Charles and Raven lived in.

And when he arrives, he catches a glimpse of blonde hair by the window, and then it is gone in a flash. He grins to himself, _Raven is really a character_.

"We're here," he grumbles, his voice rough from the wind, and again Charles shifts in his seat, waving the slight arousal away.

Charles gets off carefully, and Erik follows, leaving his motorcycle by the street and Erik walks him to the door and up the stairs to the apartment.

"I...uhm, I had a nice time tonight," he says, his accent getting the better of him. It seemed as if the more time he spent with Erik, the more he sounded British.

Erik nods and smiles, "As did I."

Erik catches Raven by the window again and she shushes him. He hides his amusement by coughing into his hand.

His heart pounding, Charles leans forward and kisses Erik, a small chaste kiss and pulls away quickly.

Disappointment flooded through Erik and he sighs inwardly. Perhaps the earlier kisses from before had startled him too much. Nevertheless, he attempted to hide it, and says good night, promising to call the next day.

He watches as Charles enters his apartment, walking down the stairs.

"_Charles, why the hell are you such a coward? That was __**not**__ a kiss._"

Erik turns around and finds that Raven had pushed Charles out, locking the door.

Charles was blushing again, for the millionth time that night, it seemed, and had stepped down the stairs to follow Erik. With another fleeting look, he captured his lips once again, closing his eyes in anticipation and attempted to pull Erik closer. They were two steps from the bottom by then, and Erik had to hold onto the railing. Slowly though, his hands had let go and were soon tangled into his hair as they kissed passionately, the lust from before returning.

After panting for a moment, breathing into each other's necks, they backed away, both flushing once again. Charles distances himself a couple of inches or so—

And Erik is falling, down the two steps he hadn't managed to take before he was snogged before. He lands on his bottom, his long legs stretched out in front of him on the stairs.

"Shit," Charles lets out, and he jumps to the ground, to kneel next to Erik. "Are you okay?"

Erik is quiet for a minute, then snorts. "I'm better than okay," he says, and smiles affectionately at Charles.

* * *

><p><em>I hope the grammar is alright, I have a problem with present and past tense, but my beta's at camp, so... -shrugs-<em>

_Please review? They make me so happy. I'm sure all you writers agree with me._

_Honestly, though? I'd prefer long reviews. Long, as in, a couple of lines at least. But that's just me. c: One liners are just fine: a short review is better than no review~_


	8. Author's Note

**Author's Note:** _I'm sorry to say this, but I don't think I'll be continuing Courting My Rival anymore. At the very least, it'll be a hiatus where I'll update once in a while, but I don't think that would work. So, in any case, I will not be updating for this fic._

_That is not to say that I won't be writing others, but I'm very sorry for everyone who has been waiting for the next chapter. :( My interest in X-Men: First Class is waning (woah!) but Charles/Erik will always be one of my dearest pairings. Hopefully I will keep writing for this pairing, but no promises._

_I just wanted to say thank you for everyone who has reviewed, favourited, and added this to their alerts._

__Fanart from hetareiggysama_: http:/ deviant art . com/ art/Xmen-and-Hetalia-Cross-Over-254881856._

_Thank you!_

_Ray_


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